robotwarsfandomcom-20200215-history
Storm 2/Controversy
In the years following Robot Wars' original run, a significant source of controversy was the emergence of Storm 2. On their website, Team Storm made allegations against the show's producers of biased treatment and favouritism against them during Series 7. This treatment was allegedly on the basis that Storm 2 would be considered "boring" to TV viewers based on its similarities to the similarly dominant Tornado, as well as its status as a very powerful but weaponless rambot (i.e. a robot with no weapon other than to ram opponents into the hazards and walls at high speeds). These ranged from introducing rules to the entire show to alleged interference with key decisions during Storm 2's campaign. Weapon Regulations Storm 2 was submitted for entry in the New Blood Championship during the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. According to Team Storm, the robot looked to be denied entry when they realised that it was a rambot, not the hydraulic crusher Storm which they had previously been aware of. After the intervention of Bill Hobbins, Storm 2 was allowed entry into the tournament and won the tournament outright by defeating Mute in the Grand Final. Between Extreme 2 and Series 7, the show's producers introduced a new "active weapon" rule, whereby all robots had to have a moving weapon. Team Storm were contacted and advised that, despite automatically qualifying as the sixteenth seed with the New Blood Championship win, they would need to add an active weapon of some form. It has never been confirmed that the show introduced this rule specifically to counter Storm 2, but it has become widely believed in the community that it was. Team Storm claimed that the producers called their robot "boring" and were taken aback by the comment, but made the appropriate changes to include a lifting arm within the robot. Series 7 Campaign Storm 2 returned to compete in Series 7, with the lifting arm somewhat begrudgingly added. Nevertheless, it still mostly relied on its ramming power to attack its opponents throughout its Heat and allow it to progress to the Semi-Finals. Indeed, its rams proved powerful enough to immobilise opponents and even throw The Steel Avenger out of the arena during its Heat Final. However, following the semi-finals, Team Storm began to feel that the producers were unhappy with their dominance. After defeating The Grim Reaper on a judges' decision in the first round of the Semi-Finals, Storm 2 faced three-time Grand Finalist and the second seed Firestorm 5 in the second round. The fight ended with Firestorm 5 in the Pit, but there was an off-air discussion between cease and the post-battle interviews, where the producers allegedly intervened with the judges and tried to argue disqualification on the grounds that Storm 2 had not used its active weapon. These contents of these discussions have never been confirmed, but regardless, Storm 2 was not disqualified and progressed to the top four. In the Grand Final, Storm 2 fought reigning champion Tornado in the eliminators. It dominated the battle and won the subsequent judges' decision. However, Team Storm have alleged that during the fight, Storm 2 pushed Tornado over the descending pit, which had been activated by the Refbot. Team Storm celebrated what they believed was a knock-out victory, but claimed that the smoke plume did not go off, cease was not called, and the pit was raised back up to allow Tornado to escape. Team Storm claim that the pit was raised to release Tornado and then descended normally, whilst the TV edit shows Tornado escaping just before the pit descends for the first time. No footage is known to exist of the unedited battle. Team Storm claim that the producers manipulated the battle to ensure that Tornado had every chance to defeat Storm 2. However, no allegations were made of interference with the judges decision, which put Storm 2 through to the final battle. Storm 2's Grand Final battle with Typhoon 2 proved to be one of the most controversial in the show's history, and proved to be Storm 2's only loss in the original run. The battle was interrupted by the arena wall breaking from impact by Typhoon 2's weapon. The fight was stopped in order to carry out repairs to the arena. According to Team Storm's website, in order to maintain continuity, Team Typhoon was allegedly allowed to repair the damage sustained by Typhoon 2 and to get the robot's weapon spinning when the fight resumed. Team Typhoon refute this claim, with then-captain Gary Cairns stating that it would have been impossible for the team to dismantle and repair Typhoon 2 within the allowed timeframe, and that both robots were kept separate from their teams during the time in which the arena was repaired. Gary Cairns' Reddit post on the Series 7 Grand Final When Team Storm launched a formal complaint to the producers, they were informed that the plan was to edit out the wall breaking, and broadcast the fight as if it had never happened. However, this plan never went ahead, as the moment Typhoon 2 damaged the wall and the battle's subsequent restart were both aired in the final broadcast. The fight was resumed, with Storm 2 repeatedly pushing and slamming Typhoon 2 around the arena even as it lost a small front panel in the closing seconds. In doing so, Storm 2 managed to dislodge a drive chain from Typhoon 2, which Team Typhoon stated had previously come loose during its previous fight with X-Terminator. This did not immobilise Typhoon 2's weapon or impact its driving ability due to it using two sets of drive motors, despite Team Storm claiming that Typhoon 2 was driving 'erratically' towards the end. Needless to say, both robots were still mobile at the end, and the final went to a judges' decision. The production crew began clearing the arena, found Typhoon 2's drive chains, and offered to toss them up to the control booth. At the same time, Craig Charles was interviewing both teams, and asked Team Typhoon what state their robot was in. In the end, the judges ruled that Typhoon 2 was the winner and the Series 7 champion. The key factor behind their decision was damage, which they gave Storm 2 no points due to it losing the front panel. Later on, it was revealed that the judges had not inspected the machines personally, as they did in some fights, but had been told that there was no damage to Typhoon 2. Craig Charles even went to asking the audience to who they thought had won, in which Storm 2 got a resounding cheer. The judges would later apologise to Team Storm for the decision, although this had no bearing on the outcome of The Seventh Wars.Team Storm website (archived) Aftermath Later that day, shooting began for The Third World Championship, as well as other side events such as the Middleweight Championship final. Team Typhoon only had one set of batteries between Typhoon 2 and their middleweight, Typhoon, and would have not been able to compete in both events. When they chose to withdraw from the World Championship to concentrate on the Middleweight Championship, their decision aroused some suspicion among the members of Team Storm: Gary Cairns refutes Team Storm's suspicions, stating that the Middleweight Championship was a larger priority for Team Typhoon as they were entering it as the defending champions.Gary Cairns' Reddit post, clarifying Typhoon 2's absence from the Third World Championship The Third World Championship Another controversial incident occurred during the final of the Third World Championship. During the battle, Storm 2 managed to tip Supernova onto its side, the gyroscopic forces of the latter's disc causing it to drive up and get itself stuck on the arena wall. Rather than count Supernova out, however, Refbot freed it from the wall while Shunt stacked Storm 2 against an angle grinder, leaving it stranded and vulnerable to attacks from Supernova's disc. From the audience's perspective, this seemed like another alleged case of producer interference, intended to give the more 'exciting' Supernova a greater chance of victory. However, the battle's outcome was a direct result of behind-the-scenes issues that the audience were not made aware of: After Supernova got stuck against the wall, Refbot came in to count it out, but his counter was not working at all, a problem which was not communicated to anyone but the producers. Left to make their own conclusions, the house roboteers inferred that Storm 2 had won, and allowed Shunt to stack Storm 2 against an angle grinder for fun. Team Storm obliged, as they also believed they had won the battle. However, unbeknown to the house roboteers or the competitors, the producers had ruled that because Supernova was never counted out, it wasn't officially considered immobilised, and ordered Supernova to be freed from the wall in the hope of giving the battle a more exciting conclusion. However, Storm 2 was still left inverted and beached on the angle grinder, and sustained damage from Supernova once it was freed. Although the televised version of the battle went to a judges' decision, the judges ruled that Supernova should have been counted out in the first place, awarding Storm 2 the victory and the Third World Championship. Needless to say, both teams were disappointed that the full version of the fight was not shown. References Category:Behind the Scenes Category:The Seventh Wars